Just months later, in April 2001, the Supreme Court ruled the $1,000 a month treatment was to be made available for free to all Venezuelans, the first ruling of its kind in Latin America.

Feliciano Reyna, of the HIV/Aids community centre Solidarity Action, says the court ruling transformed sufferer's lives in a country where 80% of the people live in poverty.

"It opened up so many doors and it definitely changed people's outlook in terms of their living with HIV and our work as NGOs.

"All we could give before was hope, but it wasn't really tangible, you know, keep on fighting, go on, there's a lot of research. Just being able to get their hands on these medicines that were life-saving was unbelievable."

Economic straitjacket

Since the court decision, the number of Venezuelans receiving free medication has jumped from around 2,000 to more than 11,000.

We know there are a lot of people who don't know they are infected who could be going to clinics

Government official

But the number of people affected by HIV/Aids in Venezuela is thought to be much higher.

The United Nations estimates it at around 65,000 and NGOs say it could be as high as 400,000.

The Venezuelan government, which has increased its HIV/Aids budget more than five-fold in the last three years, is facing an economic crisis and severe cash flow problem this year.

"We know there are a lot of people who don't know they are infected who could be going to clinics," Dr Miriam Morales, the population director of the health department told the BBC.

"We're trying to strengthen our investigations to allow us to know a lot more about the daily nature of the disease in our country. There is a crisis of financing in Venezuela at the moment, but we do have the budget for the drugs this year."

Ignorance

At the Aids unit of the Algodonal hospital in the west of Caracas, the beds are old and don't work properly. The conditions are unhygienic and many of the patients are painfully thin.

We don't have simple supplies such as moisturisers and surgical gloves

Doctor on Aids ward

Because of the stigma that surrounds Aids in Venezuela, the patients are kept separate in a ward at the end of the corridor.

Many here come from the slums like the ones on the hillsides that surround the hospital.

There, most people know nothing about the virus. By the time they come here they are so ill, it is simply to die.

Dr Yajaira Roldan is the only doctor here in charge of 12 patients. She says the unit lacks staff and resources.

Education essential

"We have so many needs, basic medications and supplies as well as personal needs. We don't have simple supplies such as moisturisers and surgical gloves.

"Perhaps the government knows the magnitude of the epidemic but they only use anti-retrovirals for treatment. There are other shortages that need to be taken care of."

Carlos Ferrer, who now works as a counsellor at Solidarity Action, says education is vital to reduce the spread of the disease.

"Obviously I'm how I am today thanks to the medication. It's very important that the government gives free medicine, but that's not everything.

"The most important thing about this epidemic is that very few people are educated about it. If you don't educate people cases like mine will be repeated everyday."